travel ❖ adventure ❖ random thoughts

May 8, 2017May 8, 2017

Want fries with that?

No. No I wouldn’t. Who needs fries when you have everything in your life as it is? Life is a crazy thing and sometimes it is completely fine to take a moment to think about where you are. And right now I am exactly where I need to be.

This semester flew right by with just a few blinks of the eye. Really, though, I feel like I just arrived in Dublin a couple short weeks ago when really it has been almost four months. Much wow. So much has happened in such little time; I have met a lot of amazing people who I plan to keep in touch with for years to come and I have made memories to last a lifetime. What an experience to be fortunate enough to pursue my dream of studying abroad… and to think my time is almost done here Dublin? That’s bizarre!

The last week of my internship ended with a bang. I was literally begged and begged to cancel my travel plans and to stay in Dublin to continue working. As much as I would love to, I unfortunately cannot. My supervisors and everyone else who I worked with and for are such amazing people and it was so hard to leave them. Hard enough as to where I almost shed a tear. I held myself together, though, because nobody enjoys an ugly cry face. They got me a couple of gifts to take home with me and a card signed by the ones I worked closest to. The experience, the work, the people, the gifts, the invaluable personal and professional connections; all of which I will cherish for many years to come.

Since the last week of the semester, I have done a little bit of traveling. Barcelona, Spain came first, followed by Amsterdam, Netherlands. Barcelona was absolutely beautiful. Breathtaking. I mean, maybe a small part of that is due to the lack of sunshine in Dublin, but yeah, it really was. The first day was sunny and almost 70 degrees, warm enough to be on the beach all day. All day. I was left with a pretty much full frontal sunburn from the waist up and from the knees down. Totally worth it, it’s a tan now. I was also left with something else… an image I wish I could have left lying there on the beach.

I was slightly unaware that the beaches in Barcelona are, optionally, nude beaches. I soon realized this when I was walking along the water and looked up to see where I was and got a full frontal view of old man. Like, not a single bit of this man was covered in any type of clothing other that the baseball cap covering his, assumed to be, bald head. Even with the nakedness though, it was a great time. One of the days we did a Hop-on Hop-off bus tour and got to see some really fascinating pieces of Spanish history and some really amazing views of the city from the mountainside.

Just this weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Amsterdam. The “city of sin, but in truth is a city of freedom and in freedom, most people find sin.” To start off the lovely weekend, it was not so lovely at all. I woke up late on Friday and rushed to catch my flight and was told I had to run if I wanted to catch it and that the gates closed in three minutes and I still had to go through security and then find the gate I was leaving from. Yeah, it was a bit much. But I ran and I ran and ran a tad more until I reached gate 12. And nobody was there. Nothing on the screen, no workers, no nothing. So, I ran back to find someone to ask and sure enough I was told to go to the wrong gate which was different from the one given on the boarding pass which was also different from the one that I was actually boarding the plane from.

After a few sprints to here and there and half way back again, I needed a shower and a change of clothes as there was sweat dripping from every part of my body. A sweat-drenched shirt, and I could sure enough feel that I was sweating where I didn’t want to be nor have to be. Yeah, I was in a rush, but when I got to the correct gate, passengers were just lining up to board. Here I am thinking I missed the flight and blah blah blah. Long story short, I was a sweaty mess and was still a touch sweaty upon arrival in Amsterdam. To add to the frustration, I can’t read Dutch and had zero clue, zip, nada, none, of how to get to where I was staying from the airport. And to add to that, my phone was just about dead and the airport WiFi was SloFi. Eventually, I gave in and took a taxi and made it to my destination. Thankfully, Saturday was beautiful and I woke up refreshed and ready for adventure.

Overall, the city is absolutely astounding and I felt like I could just sit and stare at the canals and bridges all day rather than do touristy things. But my time there was limited so I split the touristy things and the canal staring about 50/50. Given another chance to do the trip all over again, I would have extended my stay by a couple of days and maybe not have done it alone. With that said, though, I would most certainly go back.

I am off to Germany and then to Italy before I make my way back to The States in just under three weeks. Time flies when you’re having fun, I suppose!

In other random shtuff, I have officially literally walked through two pairs of shoes. The soles of two of my most adventure-worthy and comfortable shoes have began to tear out leaving random patchy holes, especially in the heals, making for a very uncomfortable walk. But I am trying my best to keep them walk-able for the remainder of my time here and will sadly have to retire them before I head home. On a good note, that leaves room for other random crap in my suitcases that could also most likely be left behind. Oh well.

Aaaannnnnnnnnndd speaking of shoes and walking and tripping and falling and rolling ankles, I still have yet to learn to walk like a normal human being. I am pretty sure a one-legged giraffe could do a better job of walking down the sidewalk than I can. I will continue to blame this on the uneven sidewalks and the Viking tours that allow the passengers to scream and scare by passers (even though I only see them like once or twice every few weeks but SHHHHHH).

In the words last spoken to me by my supervisor before leaving my internship, as well as a few million other random people: